


counterclockwise

by miiniwa



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-19 21:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2402726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miiniwa/pseuds/miiniwa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How they had gone from point a to point b in such a short amount of time, he doesn't know. But as he dwells on it, he realizes that he doesn't exactly mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	counterclockwise

**Author's Note:**

> (.....There was an attempt.)

At four in the morning, as with every single morning, Akaashi is woken up by loud, high-pitched screeching.

 

He frowns deeply, pressing his pillow against his ears in attempts to muffle out the sound and somehow fall asleep again, but he's quick to realize that it's an impossible thing to do, not with how loud the alarm clock from the floor below him is.

 

It takes nearly ten minutes before the high-pitched alarm stops, and going by the assumption that the owner of said alarm clock has finally woken up, Akaashi gets out of bed, deciding that it's about time to deal with the issue, face-to-face.

 

He grabs a hoodie from his closet before he slips on his sneakers and walks outside, already keeping in mind that he should make things as brief as possible, in order to avoid any potential conflicts.

 

As Akaashi is jogging down the stairs of the apartment complex, hands stuffed in his pockets, he wonders what type of person would even own an alarm clock that's that loud, and before he knows it, he's standing in front of the door of the alarm clock's owner, the rumored 'room 145' that some of the other residents complain about during association meetings, or simply while out in the halls.

 

 _It's a surprise that the person's still been allowed to live here_ , Akaashi remarks, reaching over and knocking on the door, debating on whether he should give the person a warning, or go ahead and send in an official complaint.

 

He recalls that he'll need to get a full name before he can send in an official complaint, and sighs, delivering another set of knocks.

 

Finally, the door swings open, and it's not quite what he expects.

 

Instead of the half-dressed single mother or depressed middle-aged man he had imagined, the person is young, and a bit taller than him.

 

His eyes widen, for just a moment, before he remembers the reason he had come here in the first place.

 

"Are you the person with the irrationally loud alarm clock?" Akaashi inquires, keeping his voice steady, and it's not at the level of politeness he had initially been aiming for.

 

Looking on ahead, the words _somewhat intimidating_ come to mind, that is, until the person at the door begins speaking.

 

"Huh? Well, um, I get that a lot, for some reason," he replies, scratching at the back of his head, and it's his mostly carefree tone that catches Akaashi off guard.

 

"Can you tell me your name?" Akaashi asks, quickly shrugging off the fact that he could have just read it off the nameplate instead.

 

"Hm? I'm Bokuto! Bokuto Koutarou," he replies, still seeming unnaturally enthusiastic and oblivious as to why Akaashi is even there, interrogating him.

 

"Bokuto-san," Akaashi repeats, keeping note.

 

"Thank you for your time," he finally finishes, giving him one last glance before he turns around.

 

"Where are you going?" Bokuto questions from behind him, head curiously tilting to the side.

 

"I'm going to report you to the landowner," Akaashi says calmly, eyes widening when a hand suddenly grips onto the end of his shirt.

 

"W...wait! You can't do that," Bokuto says quickly, watching as Akaashi turns around to give him a slightly bothered, questioning look.

 

"The landowner said that she'd kick me out if any more people sent in complaints about me," Bokuto explains, yet somehow, Akaashi doesn't feel entirely sorry for him.

 

"That'd be nice," a new voice speaks up from inside Bokuto's apartment.

 

Akaashi raises a brow, tilting his head up to glance over Bokuto's shoulder, and when he can see past him, he spots a person with tousled black hair, leaning casually against the doorframe.

 

"...Excuse me," Akaashi says, because he hadn't known that someone else had been there to listen to his complaint.

 

"Huh? It's fine, I'm not really associated with that guy," the person replies, pointing over at Bokuto, who flinches in what seems to be offense.

 

"Wha— Kuroo, we've known each other since high school"—

 

"Don't know him," Kuroo says, yawning as he stretches out his arms and steps out of the apartment.

 

Bokuto frowns heavily at him, with something close to a pout on his cheek, before he abruptly turns around to face Akaashi again.

 

"Can't we, uh, work something out? Something that would be good for both of us, like, er"—

 

"A compromise?" Akaashi asks, almost dully.

 

"Yeah, that," Bokuto replies, smiling pleasantly, and Akaashi knows that it would probably be in his best interest to decline, yet somehow, for one reason or another, he goes along with it.

 

"...I'll consider it," Akaashi says, looking on, prompting Bokuto to continue with whatever negotiation he had come up with.

 

At the very least, he expects Bokuto to tell him that he'll be getting a new alarm clock, or something close to that, but the words that Bokuto says next nearly take him by storm.

 

"If you come over and wake me up at four, I'll stop using the alarm clock," Bokuto suggests, eyes somewhat shining, as if it's a _good_ idea, and it takes Akaashi a few seconds to process it — his ' _logic_.'

 

Next to them, Kuroo starts laughing, and Akaashi currently doesn't have it in him to ask him to quiet down.

 

"I _really_ don't want to be kicked out," Bokuto tells him, tugging persistently on his shirt, letting go when Akaashi's eyes flicker towards his.

 

Reporting him and having him leave the apartment complex is supposed to be the easiest solution, but looking at the guy now, it's obvious that he doesn't want to be kicked out, and Akaashi wants to forgo feeling guilty at the end of it all.

 

Agreeing to his proposition doesn't seem entirely bad, but as he thinks on it further, Akaashi isn't sure how long he'll be doing that, and he's unaware of any little details attached.

 

"...Okay," Akaashi finally replies, deciding to give him a chance, and next to them, Kuroo blinks in surprise.

 

"I...I won't let you down!" Bokuto says, in a voice that's even louder than the one he's been using already, and both Akaashi and Kuroo take turns cringing.

 

 _Shouldn't I be the one saying that?_ Akaashi wonders vaguely, but the thought is fleeting when he notices that Kuroo is walking towards him, and he feels that there's something strangely unsettling about it.

 

"Hah, well, good luck. Since, you know, there's a _reason_ why his alarm clock's so damn loud," Kuroo says, a slightly dark smirk on his face as he gives Akaashi a solid pat on the shoulder.

 

"Where are you going, Kuroo?" Bokuto asks, curiosity piqued once again.

 

"Kenma's place," Kuroo answers back, before yawning again.

 

"Oh, tell him I said hi!" Bokuto says, expression bright, and Kuroo scoffs as he stuffs his hands into his pockets.

 

"He probably won't care," he calls out, and with that, he turns the corner, and out of sight.

 

 _So people like this really do exist_ , Akaashi thinks to himself, as he takes a reluctant glance at Bokuto, because so far, he's been mostly unpredictable.

 

"...Let's go see that alarm clock, then," Akaashi speaks up, waiting until Bokuto walks back into his apartment before he follows after him.

 

Despite Bokuto's almost questionable appearance, his apartment is clean, more or less, and it suddenly gives Akaashi a developing sense of respect for him.

 

"I'll go get it!" Bokuto says, jogging off and leaving Akaashi in the living room. He returns almost as quickly as he had left, and when Akaashi spots what he has in his hands, he's genuinely confused.

 

"Is that...an owl?" Akaashi asks, despite himself, watching as Bokuto responds with a wide-spread grin. He proudly holds up the large owl alarm clock, and Akaashi can't help but wonder where he had gotten it, and why it had been given such a loud alarm in the first place.

 

"Do you have a screw driver?" Akaashi asks, carefully taking the alarm clock from him, a little heavier than he had anticipated.

 

"You're not gonna take him apart, are you?" Bokuto demands, an almost dejected look on his face.

 

 _Him?_ Akaashi raises a brow.

 

"...No," he replies, feeling slightly drained when Bokuto starts smiling again.

 

Akaashi heads back to his place right after removing the battery from the alarm clock and confirming with Bokuto that he would be there to wake him up early in the morning.

 

With that, Akaashi spends the rest of the five minute walk back to his apartment contemplating over all his life choices, and wondering if this had been one of the right ones. Somehow, he doubts it.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

Akaashi wakes up at 3:45am, just as the alarm on his phone had let him. He walks to the bathroom, drowsy and bleary eyed, and not bothering to change out of his sleeping clothes, since he's sure he'll probably go right back to sleep after waking Bokuto up.

 

The short walk to Bokuto's apartment is cold and quiet, and just as his mind begins to dwell on regret, he reminds himself of the fact that he won't have to hear that loud alarm clock anymore, and neither will any of the other neighbors.

 

"Bokuto-san," Akaashi says as he knocks on the door, making sure he's not too loud.

 

A minute passes, and when there's still no answer, he frowns.

 

"Bokuto-san, I'm here to wake you up," Akaashi says again, knocking just slightly louder. Another silent minute passes, and that's when he begins to realize how cold it is outside.

 

 _...Guess I'll have to use the trump card from **that** guy_ , Akaashi thinks to himself, fishing through his pocket for the key that Kuroo had handed him last minute yesterday, as he had said, "you'll probably need this more."

 

He unlocks the door without another moment wasted, quietly relishing in the warm air of Bokuto's apartment.

 

It's the same layout as his own place, so he finds the bedroom with ease, still approaching with caution in case there are things that he shouldn't see.

 

"Bokuto"—

 

Akaashi stops, exhaling a short sigh when he spots Bokuto sprawled out on a futon, looking very much _asleep_. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought that Bokuto had plans to sleep until past noon.

 

He steps over to the futon before sitting down next to him, eyes dimmed. Quietly, he extends an arm and nudges Bokuto's shoulder.

 

"Bokuto-san," Akaashi calls out, nudging harder. There's no response, but by now, it's not much of a surprise to him.

 

He glances over at the wall clock, which reads 4am, and he's almost tempted to leave.

 

"Wake up," Akaashi says, a bit more relentless in his nudges now.

 

There's a feeling of relief when Bokuto finally opens an eye and looks at him, but it's quickly forgotten once Bokuto turns to face the other way, showing absolutely no intention of getting up.

 

Akaashi stares at him quietly.

 

"...You told me to wake you up at four. So please get up now," Akaashi reminds him, crossing his arms.

 

"I don't wanna," he hears Bokuto mutter stubbornly, almost muffled through his pillows, and Akaashi realizes that it's been a while since he's felt this annoyed and tired. As to why Kuroo had simply handed him the key instead of explaining the situation is something Akaashi keeps note to ask him about the next time he sees him.

 

Vaguely wondering if he had started dealing with a five-year-old, Akaashi frowns down towards Bokuto, who had decided to bury himself within the covers.

 

"...Please stop being selfish," Akaashi decides to go with, lifting the blanket off from Bokuto's face.

 

Bokuto glances over at him reluctantly, quietly staring at him through hazy, early morning vision, and for a while, Akaashi gets the feeling that he'll be ignored again.

 

However, Bokuto sits up in his place, arms rising in a stretch.

 

 _What I said must've gotten through to him_ , Akaashi thinks, nodding to himself.

 

"Morning! Uh— you know, I didn't get your name yesterday," Bokuto recalls, and Akaashi is almost caught off guard on how he's acting as if he hadn't just thrown a tantrum a few seconds ago.

 

"...Akaashi Keiji," he tells him, proceeding to stand up.

 

"Ah, okay! Morning, Akaashi!" Bokuto says, grinning, and it's surprisingly bright.

 

"Hey, I'll make some coffee as a thanks for waking me up," Bokuto states, once he's done folding his blanket and tidying up the futon.

 

"Ah, no, that's"— Akaashi starts, still a bit keen on getting some additional sleep before his noon classes. But when he sees the persistent glint in Bokuto's eyes, he realizes that it will probably be hard to refuse him. There's that, and the fact that simply being able to wake him up should probably be rewarded with a cup of coffee, at the very least.

 

"I'll start then," Bokuto says after noticing his hesitation, humming as he walks towards the kitchen. Akaashi quietly follows after him, sitting down at the small dining table, and somewhat regretting coming over in the clothes he had slept in.

 

 _Then again, Bokuto-san hasn't changed into casual wear either_ , Akaashi notices, watching as Bokuto fills the coffee maker with water.

 

"Huh...I wonder how much I'll need to put in for two people..." Bokuto mutters to himself, squinting at the instructions on the coffee mix container, and Akaashi slowly finds himself dozing off at the table.

 

Minutes later, Akaashi is poked awake by Bokuto, who places a cup of coffee and a plate of food in front of him.

 

"I was making breakfast already, so I thought I might as well make some for you too," Bokuto explains casually, as Akaashi is staring at the plate of buttered toast and sunny side up eggs.

 

"Thanks..." Akaashi says, stifling a yawn before he takes a sip of coffee. It's unexpectedly sweet, but when he glances back over at Bokuto, who's busy frying another egg, he thinks that it's not particularly bad.

 

He takes another long sip.

 

For now, he'll appreciate it.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

Soon enough, drinking coffee and eating breakfast at Bokuto's had become somewhat of a habit for Akaashi. He tells himself that it's easier having breakfast there instead of cooking for himself back at his place, and that having company while eating isn't a terrible thing.

 

Occasionally, Kuroo would come over as well, and Akaashi would spend those mornings watching the two argue or converse over questionable topics, inserting a blunt comment every now and then.

 

Through that time, he had learned many things about Bokuto, one of the more notable ones being that Bokuto liked to have his eggs done differently almost every day, and that the coffee was usually never the same as it had been the day before.

 

Akaashi had also come to the conclusion that the words "stupid" and "dimwitted" were things that didn't apply to him, even though those had been the first words to come to mind when Bokuto had excitedly approached him with the owl alarm clock on that morning from many weeks ago.

 

As he reflects on it, as he's sneaking a few glances at Bokuto eating forkfuls of scrambled eggs, something in the back of his mind tells him that he _likes_ being there, with him.

 

"Bokuto-san, I'm finished, so I'm putting these here," Akaashi says as he places the dishes in the sink. On the one occasion that he had tried washing them, Bokuto had told him not to do it again, because he 'doesn't really like having the guests do things.'

 

With that, Akaashi turns the doorknob, ready to take his leave. However, the moment Akaashi opens up the door of the apartment, he hears the sound of a dining room chair scoot backwards, and before he knows it, Bokuto is right behind him, looking hesitant.

 

"Um, Akaashi! Wait a sec"— Bokuto says, reaching over and slamming the door shut before Akaashi can take another step, something that's probably done on impulse, and Akaashi stares at him, confused.

 

"There's something that I need to say!" Bokuto declares, after sucking in a quick breath, and Akaashi raises a brow.

 

"Yeah?" He asks, crossing his arms, noticing the way Bokuto decides to look at everything but him.

 

"Well, uh, crap, how do I..." Bokuto begins, trailing off into a few incoherent mutters before he looks back at Akaashi, determination gradually building.

 

"I got used to making extra coffee in the morning," Bokuto starts, grimacing a bit when he realizes it's not exactly as impacting as he had thought it would be, especially when he sees Akaashi tilting his head to the side.

 

"And uh, you know, sometimes I think it'd be nice to have someone to sleep next to"—

 

"...What are you trying to say?" Akaashi questions, frowning a bit.

 

Bokuto gulps.

 

"I'm trying to ask you out. ...I think," Bokuto says, and he almost feels frozen in his place when he spots Akaashi's indifferent facial expression.

 

 _What the hell am I saying?_ Bokuto thinks to himself, repeatedly, over and over again, because almost nothing had gone according to plan, not that there had been a plan in the first place, and—

 

"Another compromise?"

 

Bokuto feels his breath catch, longer than he had thought when he sees the almost amused smile on Akaashi's face, as if he's always known, and Bokuto quickly finds himself beaming back at him, out of something that might just be genuine happiness.

 

"Yeah, that," Bokuto replies, hand already taking hold of Akaashi's, before he pulls, feeling the warmth that he's probably been wanting to feel for a while now.

 

It's impulsive, but it's also something that Akaashi won't forget for some time, and as Bokuto is busy nuzzling at the top of his head, he decides that today is definitely one of the better mornings. 

**Author's Note:**

> I feel-- so uneasy about everything. But on tumblr there was a list of prompts and the keywords were " loud alarm clocks," so I decided to give it a go. I lost the link to said prompts but I'll put it here if/when I find it. Also, this came out a lot longer than I had intended.


End file.
